What We Have Learned | Oral History With Native Communities

Oral history is grounded in relationships, both with individual narrators and their communities. A good relationship between an interviewer and narrator will go a long way toward a successful interview, while lack of rapport can ruin it. This means that a lot of effort goes into building relationships before an interview even starts. Creating positive connections is just as important when working with communities as with individuals. If you are not affiliated with a group, then prior to requesting interviews or introductions, it might be a good idea to develop a relationship with community members. This might occur through public cultural events, volunteer work, or simply by chatting with people at a local meeting spot.

It is important to recognize that there is no single Native experience or voice and Native communities exist within a wide variety of cultural and political circumstances. In addition to prior research, relationships you have built will help you understand the unique situation of the community with which you are working. Community members can help you navigate cultural protocols and etiquette that may be unfamiliar, as well as relationships that may affect your work.

A community ultimately decides whether or not they are interested in working on an oral history project with outsiders. As such, oral history projects with Native communities should seek to generate results that benefit both the general body of knowledge and the community with which one is working. Doing oral history is an exchange, a relational process that calls for reciprocity, and outcomes that benefit the community.

Some considerations for doing oral history with Native communities:

Ask permission and gain consent.

Do your homework.

Not all Native communities are the same; it is important to learn about issues specific to the community you work with.

Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group (IPSG) of the Association of American Geographers (AAG). AAA Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group’s Declaration of Key Questions About Research Ethics with Indigenous Communities, 2010.

Yow, Valerie, Recording Oral History: A Guide for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Altamira Press, 2005).